Alabama: judge indicted for misuse of campaign funds

The Birmingham News reports: Bessemer Circuit Judge Dan King was booked into the Jefferson County jail Tuesday after he was indicted on 56 counts related to misuse of campaign funds.

The judge, who will be suspended from the bench with pay, was indicted by a Bessemer Cutoff grand jury Monday for tax, ethics and election law violations, Alabama Attorney General Troy King said in announcing the indictment. ...

Ralph "Buddy" Armstrong, Dan King's attorney, said the judge will argue that he deposited campaign funds in his personal account only to repay loans he had made to his campaign.

"A candidate loans himself money all the time. How does he get that money back?" Armstrong said. "He was paying himself back for money he had spent out of his personal account." -- Judge indicted on campaign fund uses